I have never used dado blade set and now I have a need to make quite a lot of dado and rabbet cuts. One cut needs to be 1/8 in wide. Is it possible to use just one of the outside blades from the set, like a regular blade? I believe most of the dado sets have the outside blades 1/8 inch wide. The saw blade i use is less than 1/8 inch. My other option is to use a router.

I use to use dadoe blades until I had a job where I wanted the dadoe to stop half way into the project I was working on. I picked up a set of plywood router bits and have not seen nor will ever see another dadoe blade in my shop again.

Stacked dado sets are designed to be used with both outside cutters in place, and have a distinct right side, left side designation. The overhang of the teeth is offset so that there’s more overhang on the outside…the two cutters combine to work as one wide blade, so I wouldn’t suggest using just one.. That’s not saying you can’t, but I’m sure the manufactures would recommend against doing it because it’s not as safe. A single inside chipper might work out ok, but as suggested, if you’re going to use a blade, a regular 1/8” full kerf blade with a flat top grind (FTG) is really your best bet.

The router is a viable option…you just have be gentle b/c a 1/8” bit will break pretty easily.

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Thank you for the input everyone. I will look look for the 1/8 kerf blade with flat top grind. I found a used Freud dado set for a decent price, so I thought I check the viability of what I am trying to do first. I have broken the narrow straight bits before by going too fast. Instead I am thinking of using a slot cutter bit. I haven’t usred it yet nut it seems like it will allow faster feed. I don’t have a whole lot of time for this project, so anything that speeds up a task is helpful.

The reason I would never go back to dadoe blades is I get a perfectly clean no tear out dadoe every time. I don’t have my tablesaw tied up, I can start and stop my dadoe whenever I want. dadoeing for plywood was always a pain but with the plywood router bits there’s no shimming…just throw the router bit in and go.